Friday, May 26, 2006

UPDATED!!! More Reviews!! Plus a warning from IGN.com!!!!From IGN.com HERE!Message to X3 Moviegoers!Seeing The Last Stand this weekend? IGN has an important tip.by Steve Head May 22, 2006 - You're planning to see X-Men: The Last Stand this weekend, right? We expect most of you are. That being the case, apart from our regular reporting on the movie, IGN FilmForce now asks you to do one important thing. If you're an X-Men fan, you'll regret it if you don't! At the theater this weekend, when the credits roll, when the audiences begins to filter out of the exits... keep your seat. And then, perhaps, share this little secret with a few of your friends: the movie isn't over. We don't want to spoil anything for you, but we want you to know that the scene that follows isn't your typical post-credits tack-on. It's a coda for one of the main characters. The scene is maybe 30 seconds in length, but it's enough. And it will surely be one of the more talked moments in the fan community.

Think you know what this scene is? Guess all you want, but chances are that you won't see it coming.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Let's be clear...DareDevil was so far short from what it could be and so poorly executed, it still makes me cry. After 'Sin City' we all saw the true grit that should have been the world of 'Hell's Kitchen.' Director Mark Steven Johnson has no credit with me. As far as I'm concerned 'Ghost Rider' is Dead on delivery. (oooo, I know bad)

So all I can say is this:For a shitty movie, these trailers Kick Ass!!!Let me know what you think, and watch them both, they are a bit different.

Yahoo! I'm almost optimistic!! No, I know better.Maybe I will be surprised!Check em out HERE!

Saturday, May 20, 2006

Seems the new WB/UPN merger network CW has spit out Aquaman, freeing NBC, Animal Planet or QVC to pick it up.... not that anyone has, but I guess anybody can take it and NBC needs good shows, don't you NBC? Sadly, I think this one may just float out of the bay and into the early TV graveyard, but damn it if it doesn't look half bad! Check out the real trailer/preview of the Aquaman Pilot with Ving Rhames and the whole gang of WB type overly beautiful people at YouTube HERE!

Looking around some more I found that CW hasn't quite thrown it away yet. Looking at the preview page above I'm having second thoughts. Is it me or does Lou Diamond Phillips look kinda like Gopher from the Love Boat?

"at the press conference given today by Dawn Ostroff, President of Entertainment for CW, but one interesting mention she made worth noting was that "Aquaman is still a midseason contender," in response to a question about the Mercy Reef project focusing on the DC Comics character, which was believed to be dead when it wasn't part of the CW's initial choices for new series. Reef was not mentioned during the official Upfronts event, so its prospects seem doubtful, but apparently there is still a possibility for it to happen."

Can you hear the pitch? "Smallville meets 90210 meets Baywatch!!" (This guy actually lost the job, but at least he got paid to carry Lois)

Thursday, May 18, 2006

El Mayimbe over at Latinoreview, a fine movie news site, has the latest scoop on the new Transformers film. He's read the script and he's ready to hug a puppy! Unfortunately, from his review, I get an entirely different opinion. Puppies should stay far away from me for the time being. I'm starting to worry. I feel reality bending. I feel "Artistic license"gripping tightly around a robotic neck and throttling it.

El Mayimbe spends four or five paragraphs defending himself as a huge Transformers fan and defending Michael Bay, of whose movies El Mayimbe says: "I absolutely loved 'The Rock,' 'Armageddon' (have both the criterion collection dvds of those two) 'Bad Boys 1 and 2.' I even enjoyed his so-called flop 'The Island.' Yes, he is a talkback whipping boy and unfairly so, but I love the guy and will always see his films. He is what popcorn cinema is about and I absolutely love the visual language of his films, the richness of his color palette, his camera moves, the whole nine. So as a hardcore Transformers fan, I'm telling my fellow fans to let the man do his thing. We're in good hands."Right off the bat I don't trust this fine fellow. He seems to love what I hate and hate what I love. Again, "the lesson of 'The Lord of the Rings,' 'Spider-man' and 'X-Men': If you care about the characters, the action becomes hundreds of times more dramatic and engaging." Here's where I start to worry:"On the Autobot end, the leader OPTIMUS PRIME, his first lieutenant JAZZ (exotic car), IRONHIDE (the pickup truck) the weapons specialist forged in the Tri-Peninsular Torus states of Praxus, RATCHET (the ambulance) the medical officer, emissary to the High Council of ancients and last but not least BUMBLEBEE (camaro).Bay himself said on his site that the names will be changed other than the main few. That mainly applies to the Decepticons I think because in the script the Autobots, refer to each other in dialogue as the above names. These are the main and only Autobots. In the script we are told the Autobot names have been selected to approximate their behavioral temperaments.Now the Decepticons. The names could change if the names in the script are aliases as Bay alleges, but you can't change the character descriptions in the script of what they are. So I am going by what is currently written in this draft and the names or so called aliases given. Me personally, I don't know why there is such a big stink over the names. So what?! I think it is a bad idea to change the names. Anyways the Decepticons, of course there is MEGATRON, then there is the latest F-22 RAPTOR (BAD ASS!) tentatively titled STARSCREAM, an M-1 ABRAMS TANK tentatively titled DEVASTATOR, a MINE CLEARING VEHICLE tentatively titled BONECRUSHER, an MH-53 PAV SPECIAL OPS CHOPPER tentatively titled VORTEX, a POLICE CAR tentatively titled BRAWL, the MECHANICAL SCORPION Quint saw at Bay's offices tentatively titled SKORPONOK, and my favorite little decepticon ' a BOOMBOX that transforms into the 4 ½ foot SOUNDWAVE. The only Decepticon mentioned by name in this draft by Megatron is Starscream. If I were a betting man, I would bet the house that Starscream would still be Starscream when the film comes out. The names might change, but I would also bet the house that the Decepticon vehicles remain the same as currently written and as I described above because they play into the story as currently written."Characters: why we love the Transformers. Bumblebee, Jazz, Starscream, Soundwave, Megatron, Ironhide, Sideswipe...Optimus Prime! Without great heroes of nobility like Prime, innocents like Bumblebee and villains like Starscream and Megatron, it's just a bunch of robots. Yes I know giant transforming robots are cool, but not as cool by far as giant transforming robots who we know and love. Is G.I.Joe just about soldiers? Would it be the same if they threw out Snake-eyes and Scarlett and called them Silent Mac and Red Sally! So why am I complaining? The characters seem to still be there right? Maybe they won't change them.... In Hollywood, not Brian Singer's Hollywood or Sam Raimi's Hollywood, but deffinately in Michael Bay's, old Skool Hollywood, the Hollywood of Jon Peters' 'Superman II' and 'Batman and Robin', intellectual property is torn to shreds in attempts by producers and directors to attach there own ideas to a project, even at the cost of the original meaning or essence of the property. Why? Simply for ownership reasons. If you change something major in a movie, everyone knows you did it, you may get extra points in the profit or part of the toy that is inspired by your idea. But the real reason is to mark the project like a dog and say "I was Here!!"Why did Superman throw a giant plastic "S" at Zod's henchman? Why did Batgirl have blonde hair and why was she related to Alfred instead of Commissioner Gordon? Why did Zod and crew have the ability to shoot lasers out of their fingers and dissapear? Why did Batman say "I'll get Drive thru?" Why did Superman have the ability to create mutiple images of himself? Why Bat Nipples? Every decision is a clear effort by a producer or director to have a personal mark that they could say they added. You can bet your last bag of crack that Michael Bay would love to see "Michael Bay's The Transformers" on the title if they'd let him. He's that kind of guy. So when I hear the names may change, when I hear that Bumblebee isn't a VW Beetle, when I see wide sweeping alteration coming, I wonder how slippery the slope is.If Optimus becomes a school bus I'm going home to cry. Below some more bits of interest about the plot:

What was the original Television series about? What were both the Decpticons and Autobots after that was depleted on their home planet of Cybertron?

The Energon Cube. A supreme power that imbues the Transformers with the gift of 'spark' the life force within all the Transformers.So in a nutshell, Optimus Prime and the Autobots have to find the Energon Cube on Earth before Megatron and the Decepticons do. That is what the Transformer Movie coming next year in 2007 is simply all about. The Autobots and the Decepticons each have their reasons for finding the Energon cube, but I won't spoil it here. Just know that is what the script is about.

The script opens 1 million years before the dawn of man with the energon cube hurtling through space on it's path towards Earth. A narrator tells us that the ravages of war destroyed Cybertron, a war raged between the legions who worship chaos and those who follow freedom. They battled for a supreme power, the Energon Cube. It's origin unknown yet it bears the life-force that created the transformer race. They fought until their world was awash in death until the very ground swallowed whole their once mighty cities and the cube was lost to the limitless stars. Then by fortune or fate, its course was altered, drawn to a planet called Earth. They have searched for the cube across desserts of time, hoping to find it before the dark legions, but as fate would have it, they were already too late.

We are then in the artic circle in 1897 on a national Antarctic expedition and focus on a derelict sailing vessel trapped in ice. The crew works desperately to free the ship. The dogs bark, there is something in the ice. The captain, two men and the dogs go out over the artic shelf and look at whatever is buried under the ice. A huge rift opens, one of the dogs and the captain falls into a 30ft fissure. We pull back and see the captain standing on the palm of a giant steel hand, half in and half out of the ice. A mechanized face is embedded within the ice wall, expression frozen in a scream. The Captain wipes away ice to reveal symbol on the mechanoid the Decepticon emblem. The captain takes a pick axe and stars chopping away at the ice to take a better look, activates something on the robot's chasis and something happens.

- After the blockbuster opening we meet SAM WITWICKY at Tranquility high school, the unfortunate yet adorable dork that he is, his love interest MIKALELA BARNES, her asshole boyfriend TRENT DEMARCO. We also meet Sam's Chihuahua MOJO.

- Sam's father RON picks him up after school and they meet up with a shady car dealer BOBBY BOLIVIA. Since Ron got 3 A's, his dad got four grand to buy Sam a car. Sam ends up buying a 75 Camaro, which we by now all know is BUMBLEBEE. The Autobot emblem is on the steering wheel.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

I like Jon Favreau, I really do. I don't know that he has excited me as a director, although 'Elf' is for the most part, a very dry and funny film. I haven't seen 'Zathura,' but to be fair I didn't see 'Jumangi' either. I have very little patience for young siblings bickering as they go adventuring. Probably because I spent so much of my childhood as a bickering sibling on adventures. I think 'ET' and 'Goonies' already did that bratty adolescent thing to death years ago and I hadn't even seen 'Goonies' until a couple years ago. (It did nothing for me, sorry, I waited too long) Now if you want to tell me a real story of childhood like 'My Life As A Dog' or 'Stand By Me' where kids act like kids and not cherubic, candy eating, Mouseketeers, I'm there! But 'Zathura' didn't sell that to me. 'Swingers' was a damn fine 90's Indie joint, a fine little gem for old Jred's "Chick Flicks For Guys" list. (I really should put that up here somewhere...but that's another post) My meandering point is that Favreau is still a relatively blank slate. I have no idea what he will bring to the table. I like him, I loved his 'Dinner For Five' show, but I don't yet see his vision for Ironman. That said, I sure like the way he talks about Ironman and I 'd prefer a guy like him, that cares about character, to a big special effects guy like Michael Bay. That is the lesson of 'The Lord of the Rings,' 'Spider-man' and 'X-Men': If you care about the characters, the action becomes hundreds of times more dramatic and engaging. If only George Lucas hadn't forgot that, but then again, the 1980's and 90's was all about forgetting that, wasn't it?

My thoughts for Tony Stark? Billy Crudup. He's a leading man with real acting and emoting abilities, yet he's still an obscure name. And Jon? Remember that the strong friendship is Tony and Rhodey. Rhodey picks him up and takes over when he can't. Ironman is a buddy film. Rhodey isn't just a supporting character, he's the balance to Tony's depression and abuse. He's Alfred Pennyworth, with the ability to put on the suit. He is a major part of the 'Ironman' illusion that Tony creates.

Below IESB gets the goods in two video interviews with Jon Favreau. Link is HERE!Source: IESB Author: Robert SanchezExclusive Video Interview:Swingmeister Jon Favreau on His Vision of Iron ManAt the 32nd Annual Saturn Awards held Tuesday at the Universal Hilton, the swinger himself, Jon Favreau, attended to present legendary filmmaker Ray Harryhausen with the George Pal Memorial Award. With the recent announcement that he will be directing the upcoming Marvel project "IronMan", Favreau has certainly filled his plate! He tells us that they are currently putting John Cater of Mars on hold at Paramount. He chalks this up to the other sci fi film the studio is working on, the resurgence of Star Trek. Favreau talks about his vision of Iron Man. He believes an adaptation should stay true to the original and take into consideration the story that has already been told. Iron Man is the star of this movie, he says, and a major star is not necessarily needed. He wants someone who will be available for sequels and prefers to follow the Bryan Singer model and cast an unknown.

Monday, May 15, 2006

I'm broken up about the end of the Warner Bros. DC Universe, but what a glorious ride.. Justice League Unlimited is now over and as I look back to the early 90's: Batman Animated through the Superman/Batman Adventures to Batman Beyond and Justice League, I am smiling thinking about the vast body of great storytelling that has created nothing short of a comic book universe of animation. Hell, even Teen Titans grew on me. Years from now, this work will continue to inspire and ignite new comic fans by reaching out to them in DVD and syndication. Marvel wishes it had something like this to compare to it, but alas, they don't. The only thing a tenth as entertaining is "Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends" and that is two decades old! Warner always tried to build lesser shows into the mix but although Static and that Zeta project, had their moments, they were far to formulaic to hold a candle to the rich and sophisticated writing of the DC Animated shows. Some ahole with great art design sold DC on a demographically friendlier Batman which while calling him "The Batman," ended up being more about the Batman's gadgets and a Reggae version of the Joker than any definitive version that the "The" could hope to imply. So we will have an out of continuity "Legion of Superheroes" starring SuperBoy, a character that does not exist in the DC animated world. Like "The Batman", this new show will be good or bad on its own merits. But the magical DC Universe seems to be all but paved and painted to make way for more kiddie fare. As Timm and Dini hang up their hats and look back on their legacy, I wonder more openly why popular shows that create the buzz of JLU or Teen Titans die so young. Searching the web, I found lots of speculation, but the folks at www.worldsfinestonline.com seem to have the best understanding of why it ended and why we should be grateful that we got what we got. Mayhap Marvel could steal the DC team and put them to good use, Heaven knows Xmen High School and Spidey MTV 3D failed to leave a serious mark. Below, Worlds Finest Online lets us in on some interesting thoughts regarding the unwanted, early death of Justice League Unlimited and Team Titans. HERE!

THE CARTOON INDUSTRYHow does the Cartoon industry work in relation to DC?If Warner Bros. and DC Comics want to make an animated series based off one of their properties, they can. If they want a new Batman cartoon, they can go right ahead. There may be some complications concerning character rights, legalities and media appearances, but it's fairly straightforward.Is Warners dense for cancelling the show?Whether you want to admit it or not, Warner Bros is one of the most fan-friendly companies around. Just consider the fact that Justice League Unlimited was slated to be finished after the initial 26 episode order, and how shocked just about everyone was when an additional 13 episodes were ordered (it's especially miraculous given the sheer mess that network is in). Considering that the new standard for ordering cartoons has become either 26 episodes or nothing, and that it's rare to order just 13 episode given how expensive creating a series has become, we’re pretty lucky to get what can basically be considered 13 episodes for the Justice League Unlimited creative team to have some fun before heading on to other projects.

Despite the extras that can sometimes be lacking, Warner Home Video has also been very kind concerning getting the material onto to DC in a very quick manner. We received the entire collection of Batman: The Animated Series in less than two years. We'll have the entire Justice League series in less than four months. Same with Superman: The Animated Series. Plus, many other animated DC series will be completely out on DVD before the end of 2007, less than two years.

THE DC ANIMATED UNIVERSEWhat is the canonical order of the Bruce Timm based DCAU?"Canon" refers to any set of stories which can be linked together as being part of the same continuity. It can be official canon (as confirmed by the creators) or personal canon (the choice of the viewer as to which they accept as part of the same continuity).

If you are a Teen Titans fan, and want to fit it into DCAU, put it first in the list as there is no other place for it. Otherwise, discard as being too inconsistent with the character of Dick Grayson. To some extent, it also would prove to be inconsistent with the character of Bruce Wayne, who, based on in his "Batman: The Animated Series" character, seems unlikely to allow Dick to run his own group of heroes in a public tower, in a different city, tinkering with equipment even beyond Wayne's own technology, with no direct supervision. They are kids after all, and Dick is his ward.

Series: The New Batman And Superman AdventuresWebseries: Gotham Girls/Lobo (debatable canon)Series: Static Shock (overlaps with Justice League)Series: Justice LeagueMovie: Mystery Of The Batwoman (best estimates place it in season two of Justice League as there appears to be a Kasnian crisis in both)Series: Justice League UnlimitedMovie Flashback: Return Of The JokerSeries: Batman Beyond/Zeta ProjectMovie: Return Of The Joker (debatable continuity position as it aired prior to season three, but does "work" better as an entire series cap).Series episode: JLU: Epilogue

Why were Teen Titans and Justice League Unlimited cancelled?Technically speaking, they weren’t. Cartoon Network simply optioned to not pick them up for future seasons. There is, of course, more to it than that, so let us explain it further.

The generic run for a show on Cartoon Network is 52 episodes. Even the networks acclaimed and Emmy winning series (Samurai Jack a prime example) end at this mark. Fifty-two is the magical syndication number. With 52 episodes, the network can sell off the show to another or choose to re-run it themselves for a few more years, raking in revenue on a show that had ceased production months or years prior.

Teen Titans was graced with an extra season to make it 65 episodes and Justice League Unlimited, which to Cartoon Network was still Justice League, made it to 91. Considering that both of these shows eclipsed even the networks mandate for a shows life just goes to show how successful these shows were. Lambasting the network for not continuing on with these shows is simply not the right thing to do, considering how generous they were with us.

But if Teen Titans and Justice League Unlimited were so successful, why end them?Everything must end at sometime. Yes, the ratings for both shows were remarkable. Yes the toy sales were great. But the ending of the show was not one or two factors, but five or six that culminated in the end of each of the shows. We don’t know the full reasons and probably never will.

The network could have continued the shows on into eternity; but in the case of Teen Titans, ratings were slowly drooping by a bit. The production crew of Justice League Unlimited was even getting worn out, and producer Bruce Timm commented on this topic in this forum ("Honestly, I'm almost relieved JLU is over (for the moment anyway). It was frankly an EXHAUSTING show to do, hard to write, extremely labor-intensive to produce, this season and the last especially...").

It simply made more sense from many viewpoints that the shows should end. End them on a high note, end them while the network can disperse the shows teams to other shows and most importantly (for the network) end it while they can still re-air the episodes for a few years.

We must also keep in mind that the focus of Cartoon Network is changing. Whether good or bad, the decision to end Teen Titans and Justice League Unlimited also made sense while looking at it through their new vantage point. This new vantage point is producing a wider audience and bringing in newer, cheaper shows and airing more movies over the year, both live action and animated.

Obviously this is no large consolation to the thousands of fans of these shows, but the shows are over. This does not, however, mean that with the loss of these two shows that the air waves will only have one DC toon on the air (The Batman)—there are many others in production or pre-production (see below).

What's LEGION OF SUPERHEROES?So far, we’ve been told that a new show starring Superboy And The Legion Of Superheroes will premiere in the fall. Justice League Unlimited character designer James Tucker is the lead designer on the show and Bruce Timm has said that Mr. Tucker’s work “...kick all kinds of ass (he's still fine-tuning). It ain't JLU, it ain't Teen Titans, but it looks great. Personally, I can't wait to see "JAMES UNLEASHED" on a show all his own...”

What other shows might be on the horizon?At the moment, theres plenty of shows in the talks, but what will make it and what won’t is another thing. Possible shows:

Doom PatrolSpin off from Teen Titans? Possible, little is known about it.

A New Superman TASBatman got one, so it’s not unlikely Superman won’t as well. Again, still very little is known.

The World’s Finest / Brave and the BoldAnother rumor that is more than likely going to remain as such; this series would include both Batman and Superman

Warner Bros. has provided The Continuum with a complete first look at the preview image for the upcoming Legion of Super Heroes animated series on Kids' WB!

The image shows Phantom Girl, Brainiac-5, Saturn Girl, Superboy, Lightning Lad, Timber Wolf and Bouncing Boy.Series producer James Tucker, who was a producer on Justice League Unlimited, explained the look of the show for The Continuum."Artistically, the style of the show falls somewhere between Superman: The animated series and Clone Wars," Tucker told The Continuum. "It's definitely not anime-based at all."

Asked about villains on the series, Tucker said, "It's safe to say that the Fatal Five will be showing up several times, as well as a few other well known Legion foes."